My Brother, the Ghost
by angelmariecloud
Summary: Six months after Rorke took Logan, he reappears with little memory of what happened. With his mind in tatters, the question remains: is he still a Ghost, or is he a Federation operative.
1. Chapter 1

Prisoner

"Logan..." Hesh gasped, reaching for him. "Logan!" Hesh tried crawling towards them only to realize that they were too far away. "Logan!" Hesh yelled, watching his little brother get dragged away. Logan kicked with his free leg, but his movements were sluggish and uncoordinated. The blow to the head assuring that. Logan continued to struggle until Rorke kicked him in the head again. Hesh was trying his hardest to get up, to stop Rorke but he wasn't fast enough and he didn't reach them before Rorke threw Logan over his shoulder and disappeared. "NO! Logan! I'll kill you Rorke!"

"Hesh." Logan gasped.

"Don't worry, kid. You'll see him again soon."

Logan kicked at Rorke again and Rorke deflected the blow. Then he threw Logan onto a helicopter. Logan tried to crawl away but Rorke stopped him. Logan was then drugged for the duration of the trip. When he woke up, he was in a deep hole in the ground. He screamed for an hour and then tried to climb out. His broken arm prevented that.

Six months later, he was found in an abandoned hut in No Man's land. Merrick rounded a corner in an abandoned Federation safe house and was tackled to the ground a knife to his throat before he could process what happened.

"Move and I'll fucking kill you!" A man growled. Merrick blinked up at the thin, filthy man seated on top of him. The man's hair was long, tangled and so dirty that he couldn't tell the color it once was. His beard was in equally bad shape and he was covered in dirt, grime and blood. Beneath his worn, thin clothing, Merrick could make out every one of his ribs.

"I can help you. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm looking for someone. Maybe you've seen him. He's just a kid. Blonde hair, brown eyes like yours. Goes by the name of Logan."

The man above him was frozen in shock.

"Merrick?" He asked uncertaintly. The knife clattered to the floor. Then he was down the hallway, cowering in a corner and muttering to himself. "Not again. Not again!"

Merrick felt his throat constricting. Logan was the pitiful shell before him. Starved and half crazy but he was alive.

"Hesh, get over here. I found him."

"I'm on the way."

Logan stayed in the corner whimpering and crying. Hesh stood frozen behind Merrick. "Logan? Logan!" He started forward and Merrick grabbed his arm.

"He's a mess. Go slow." Hesh approached him slowly.

"Not again, please!" Logan begged, his eyes shut and his hands over his ears. Hesh knew knelt besides him.

"Logan. Open your eyes." He pulled his hands down. "Logan."

Logan opened his eyes slowly.

"Hesh?" He asked. "Are you really here?" He stared at Hesh. Then he reached out hesitantly. "You're real." He sobbed. "I t-thought I was going crazy." Hesh gathered Logan into his arms.

"It's ok. I've got you. I'm here. You're safe."

Logan clung to Hesh. "Let's get to you out of here."

"They did something to me, Hesh." Logan sobbed "My head hasn't stopped ringing since before they left. Make it stop!"

"I will. We need to get you home so the doctor can take a look."

Logan shook his head and launched himself at Merrick, tryin to get his firearm. Hesh grabbed him and they toppled to the floor.

"NO!" Logan shrieked, he was no match for Hesh, who was healthy and whose muscles hadn't deteriorated. It didn't stop him from struggling. "You don't understand! They did something to my head. It won't stop!"

"Keegan, we need a tranquilizer. Now!"

Keegan appeared a minute later, syringe in hand. Logan struggled more.

"NO! NO!"

"It's okay, calm down. He won't use it if you stop fighting. I know you're scared. It's okay." Hesh tried to soothe. Logan didn't hear him. Too frenzied to listen.

"Hold his arm still."

Merrick pinned down Logan's left arm and Keegan administered the drug. Logan continued to scream until it started taking effect. Hesh held him until he was completely under.

"What the hell?" Merrick asked.

Hesh picked himself up and lifted Logan into his arms.

"He's been tortured. He's not well. But we need to make sure he he'll be fine. I'm not going to let him out of my sight."

"Poor kid." It took an hour to get back to base, where Logan was taken from Hesh to be examined. When Hesh was allowed to see him, Logan was coming back from surgery.

"How is he?"

The doctor looked disturbed.

"There was a device in his head. We still don't know what it was. We had to rebreak his right arm to set it properly."

"Can I see him?"

"Yes."

Logan was asleep, his right arm in a cast, his left handcuffed to the frame.

"What?"

"Just a precaution. He's been missing for six months. We need to make sure that he isn't an operative for the Federation." The doctor was saying behind him. Hesh supposed it made sense, but it didn't mean that he liked it.


	2. Chapter 2

Doubts

Hesh supposed it wasn't the first time that someone returned from captivity. Logan was on some heavy duty pain meds. His head was bald, wrapped in compression bandages. He was currently shaving the beard, having already taken scissors to it.

"I don't know what they did to you, Logan. But I promise, no way is anyone gonna do it again."

Logan was still sleeping so Hesh didn't expect an answer. Merrick was waiting outside.

"Hesh?" Logan rasped.

"Hi."

"Where?"

"Base hospital. How do you feel?"

"Like crap. What happened? I feel like I'm floating. I hate that sensation."

"You're on some pretty strong pain meds. You need them considering that you're a mess."

"Hesh, you look terrible. Where's dad? Is he mad at me?"

Hesh was shocked, Logan couldn't remember anything.

"Logan, what's the last thing you can remember?"

"We almost got munched by wolves. Then the base was under attack and its real fuzzy. Did we pass?"

Hesh smiled.

"Yeah kid, we did."

"And dad?"

"He- Logan, that was a few months ago."

"Was I in a coma? Is that why I feel so weak?"

"No kiddo."

"What happened? Is," Logan swallowed. "Is dad dead?"

Hesh sat next to Logan.

"Seven months ago." He said quietly. Logan's face crumpled.

"How?"

"He was KIA."

"Where?"

"Las Vegas."

"No, where were we?"

Hesh sighed.

"We were there. We'd been captured."

"Did-was it fast?"

"Fairly."

And just like that, Hesh broke his brother's heart.

"What happened to me?"

"You were taken as a POW six months ago. We just got you back."

"Why can't I remember?"

"I don't know."

Logan tried to sit up, but realized that he was cuffed to the bed.

"Hesh? Why am I tied down?"

"It's for your own safety."

"Untie me!" Logan said. He pulled at his wrist. "Now!"

"Hold on."

Hesh left briefly to find out who had the key.

"I'm not authorized to release your brother. I'm sorry."

"Who is?"

"Captain Merrick."

Hesh sighed.

"Where is he?"

"He'll be here later to see your brother."

"All right." He returned to Logan.

"Hesh get me out of here."

"Take a breath, kiddo. I don't have the key and we need it to unlock those."

Logan frowned.

"What the hell, Hesh? It's me."

"I know. But they need to be sure."

"You think I'm a double agent."

"No, but we don't know what they did to you. Logan, there was a device in your head. The fact that you're awake at all is a miracle. Just get rest, you aren't well enough to do anything else."

"That doesn't mean anything! I haven't changed!"Logan snapped, then his eyes went wide. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You're not well. Please , relax, rest."

"Ok."

Logan shut his eyes and tried to rest. Three hours later, he heard Hesh and talking.

"Are you going to let him go? He hasn't done anything wrong."

"I know."

"He freaked out about the cuffs. Could you unlock them?"

There was a soft click followed by another. His wrist was free. He could try to run, but he didn't think he'd make it.

"Hesh?"

"How long have you been awake?"

"Just a minute. Can I go home now?"

"When you feel better."

**A/N: I'm such a goof. I forgot to put a disclaimer. Oops. You know the drill. Not mine, this isn't for profit, etc.**


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